This paper discusses the effects of the most important variables during isothermal fatigue such as strain range, ramp time, tensile and compressive hold times, and temperature on fatigue life of near–eutectic 62Sn–36Pb–2Ag solder at strain ranges below 3.0%. The Coffin-Manson relation does not hold for 62Sn–36Pb–2Ag solder below 1% strain range. Decreasing frequency below 10-2 in no-hold tests reduces the number of cycles to failure. Tensile hold time or compressive hold time alone in the cycle dramatically reduce the number of cycles to failure. Increase of hold time over a few minutes leads to saturation of Nf. Combined tensile and compressive hold times affect the fatigue life of this solder less than either tensile or compressive hold alone. The effect of hold times on fatigue life is much stronger than the effect of ramp time. Practically no ramp time effect was observed in tests with tensile hold times. Very little effect of temperature over the range 25 to 80°C on fatigue life of 62Sn–36Pb–2Ag solder was observed when tested at total strain range of 1%.

We had reported last year that cyclically tested Pb/Sn solders of different compositions exhibited a complicating anelastic effect. The storage and recovery of anelastic strains suppresses damaging creep strain from being stored thus causing non-conservative life prediction estimates and results in complications with respect to accelerated testing. These complications were at that time believed to be characteristic of only eutectic solders at near ambient temperatures. We now find that said complications exist for high end Pb solders and at higher temperatures. Strain rate behavior of high lead solders indicate that a different failure mechanism might exist at temperatures where the material exists as a two phase and in regimes where it exists as a solid solution. Experiments conducted to determine the effect of grain size on accelerated cycling indicated that recrystallization of large grains occurs due to cycling at high temperatures. At ambient temperature, which is greater than half the absolute melting temperature of 90/10 Pb/Sn, it was observed that large grains suppress creep.

A nonlinear and time dependent finite element analysis was performed on two surface mounted electronic devices subjected to thermal cycling. Constitutive equations accounting for both plasticity and creep for 37Pb/63Sn and 90Pb/10Sn solders were assumed and implemented in a finite element program ABAQUS with the aid of a user subroutine. The FE results of 37Pb/63Sn solder joints were in reasonably good agreement with the experimental data by Hall [19]. In the case of 9OPb/1OSn solder in a multilayered transistor stack, the FE results showed the existence of strong peel stress near the free edge of the joint, in addition to the anticipated shear stress. The effect of such peel stress on the crack initiation and growth as a result of thermal cycling was discussed, together with the singular behavior of both shear and peel stresses near the free edge.

A quantitative dynamic solder wettability mesurement technique was utilized to evaluate the effects of reflow processing on the wettability parameters associated with solder ball alloys. This technique enables the examination of the final degree of solder wetting and the continuous monitoring of wetting as a function of time during the reflow process under nitrogen atmosphere. An experimental design approach employing a 24 full factorial experiment was formulated to illustrate the use of this measurement technique investigating the final result of wetting. Solder wettability was determined with respect to the contact angle, base diameter and height of the reflowed solder ball alloy. The most significant effect estimates with respect to contact angle were solder flux and pad metallization. Solder ball alloy was found to significantly impact the base diameter and height of the reflowed solder. The effect of solder flux activators and pad metallizations on the subsequent continuous solder wettability wetting rates and amount of molten solder spread of solder ball alloys during reflow were measured. Reflow with a relatively more activated solder flux material was found to enhance the rate of solder wetting of the the pad metallization.

In this paper,a numerical simulation of thermal process in the SMT laser microsoldering joint has been developed, in which, the influence on thermal process of the factors such as the thermal conductivity variation of solder with temperature, light reflection coefficient of the lead wire surface, and heat exchange on the surface of SMT materials all have been considered. In order to carry this numerical calculation practice and prove it's results,the reflexive characteristic of light wave to the SMT materials has been gauged,and the dynamic temperature process of laser microjoint has been measured by a new experimental method which was invented by the authors.

The results of numerical simulation have been borne out by the tests, and the influences of heating parameters on thermal process has been analysed in this paper.The conclusions will be advantageous to the further study of the microjoint quality control in the SMT laser microsoldering.

A comparison was made of gold and copper wires used in ball bonding in terms of their mechanical properties, bondability and the reliability of their bond interfaces in elevated temperature environments. The ball bondability of copper and gold was evaluated through clarification of the factors which govern ball deformability. Moreover a bonding method to suppress the generation of silicon cracks was proposed for ball bonding of copper wire. As to the reliability of the heat affected zone and the bond interfaces, copper wire was found to be superior to gold wire.

In this paper, the forming process of copper wire ball in copper ball bonding has been studied by numerical analysis. By means of calculation of temperature field, speed field and displacement field for ultrafine copper wire under a miniarc, the regular pattern of copper wire ball formation has been clarified. In this paper, the calculating result of displacement field has also been tested and verified.

A modern electronic device is a complex 3-dimensional structure that consists of millions of components for each single IC chip. This complex and delicate device requires effective encapsulation and packaging to ensure its long-term reliability. The device encapsulant requires not only excellent electrical, physical properties, but also suitable mechanical properties for the hostile and extreme temperature cycling requirements. Hence, the mechanical behavior of the encapsulant plays a critical role in the device reliability.

Low stress encapsulants are the preferred choice for microelectronic packaging. Silicone-base materials, with their low modulus and excellent electrical properties, are one of the best encapsulants. However, the intrinsic elastic (to soft gel-like) silicone properties provide weak mechanic protection of the IC device. We have, however, modified the silicone material with a high loading of silica to improve its mechanical and physical properties. This high silica filler loading material improves its mechanical property, but it also increases its modulus. This modified high modulus silicone material tends to have microcracks during the high temperature cycling testing. In this paper, I will describe a modified version of the enhanced mechanical property silicone-base encapsulant, the materials formulation, the curing and the thermal mechanical protecting mechanism and its application to AT&T's No. 5 Electronic Switching System (ESS) Gated Diode Crosspoint (GDX) hybrid IC supplemental insulating layer (SIL) materials.

The successful design of plastic integrated circuit packages for high performance VLSI chips is a crucial element in the development of costeffective packaging technology. Unfortunately, however, most common plastic encapsulating and die-bonding materials provide relatively low thermal conductivities and large thermal expansion coefficients, as well as low mechanical strengths and a limited operating temperature range. These material properties combine to produce a large number of thermally induced package failure modes. Thus, insightful material selection and detailed design, based on extensive thermal modeling/analysis, must be performed to achieve acceptable levels of component reliability.

This paper begins with a discussion of the temporal development of the temperature fields inside a plastic IC package and continues with the presentation of transient and steady-state, first-order analytical models for: the chip temperature, the temperature and gradient across the die bond, and the half-thickness encapsulant temperature. The values obtained for a typical PDIP package are discussed and compared to the results of a finite-element analysis of this package. The insights obtained from these analyses are used to develop material Figures-of-Merit that can be used in the selection of die-bond and encapsulant materials for plastic IC packages.

Two new elastomeric electrical conductors were developed. One is silicone infiltrated tin foam containing 14 vol.% tin. The other is short nickel fiber silicone-matrix composites containing 3-12 vol.% fibers, fabricated by the impregnation of silicone into a nickel fiber preform. Both exhibited volume electrical resistivity of the order 10-4 ohm.cm.

We have developed a numerical model for calculating stresses generated during cure of shrinking encapsulating resins. Mechanical modeling of polymer encapsulated electronic devices usually focusses on stress generated during cooling after cure. The stress developed during cure, due to shrinkage of the encapsulant, is normally neglected. That assumption is valid if both the shear and bulk moduli of the encapsulant at the cure temperature are negligible with respect to the moduli at lower temperatures. Our measurements on a model epoxy encapsulant show that the shear modulus during cure, varying from 0 to 6 MPa, is at least 100 times smaller than that at ambient temperature. In contrast, the bulk modulus at the cure temperature is only 2.5 times smaller. Since the bulk modulus during cure cannot be neglected, significant stress can be produced if volume shrinkage is constrained by a stiff mold or embedded elements. In fact, mechanical failure of encapsulating materials during cure has been evident in some of our experiments. Using measurements of shear and bulk moduli plus volume shrinkage as inputs to a finite element model, we have successfully predicted the shrinkage strains and stresses developed during cure of a model epoxy resin inside a cylindrical tube. Consideration of cure shrinkage stress has led to a process modification that appears to reduce mechanical failures in a real encapsulated device.

This paper presents a probabilistic fracture-mechanics based methodology for the reliability assessment of non-ductile encapsulants. The study used an alumina-epoxy encapsulant as a working example and assessed the reliability in terms of (1) fast fracture and (2) delayed failure behavior of the material.

Applying the Weibull probabilistic model to flexural strength data, survival probabilities and strength requirements against fast fracture of the encapsulant under various stress states were quantified. Unifying the probabilistic concept and linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM), the probabilistic lifetime of the encapsulant was predicted as a function of stress magnitude, stress state, and material size. Merging the results obtained from this study with the mechanical response results independently acquired from finite element analysis (FEA) one may then establish conservative design margins for the encapsulant used in various electronic assemblies.

Photoresist polymer coatings in the film-substratum systems usually generate selfinduced residual stress during processing. It is believed that the residual stress is the driving force for buckling, cracking and delamination of the polymer coatings. Analysis of the residual stress development during processing is of great interest and practical importance.

Holographic interferometry technique has been developed for the direct measurements of general 2-dimensional stresses in thin films.[l] It turns out that it is a powerful technique to analyze residual stress development in polymer coatings during processing. By directly measuring the residual stress for each processing stage, the history of residual stress evolution can be closely followed and the residual stresses generated from different origins can be separated. By varying UV curing dosage, thermal curing temperature and the sequence of thermal and UV curing procedures, different residual stresses from various processing conditions can be comprehensively analyzed. Combining these data with mechanical properties of the coating offers valuable information for better understanding of the processing mechanism and enables one to optimize processing conditions for the best product capability.

The thermo-mechanical properties of III-V semiconductors, in general, and of GaAs and InP in particular, are reviewed. They play an important role in many aspects of semiconductor device fabrication starting from the growth of bulk crystals. Dislocation generation in GaAs and InP are discussed with the emphasis on the theoretical and experimental aspects of reducing the dislocation density in these materials. Such mechanical properties as glide systems, critical resolved shear stress and impurity hardening are covered. The effects of dislocations on device performance are illustrated with examples from photonic and electronic devices. Finally, the effect of thermomechanical stresses in the degradation and reliability of GaAs/AlGaAs and InP/InGaAsP based opto-electronic devices is considered.

The effects of grown-in stress and applied external stress on the interdiffusion behavior in long-period Si0.7Ge0.3/Si is examined using x-ray diffraction and Raman Spectroscopy. Both symmetrically and asymmetrically–strained superlattices have been examined, and an activation energy for interdiffusion of 3.9 eV and 4.6eV have been obtained, respectively. In addition, an enhanced interdiffusion has also been measured when the asymmetrically–strained superlattice was subjected to an external tensile stress during annealing. In both cases, enhanced interdiffusion has been measured whenever the Si barrier layers experience tensile stress during annealing. The Raman results indicate that enhanced Ge diffusion into the Si barriers occur when these barriers are put under tensile stress. This result will be discussed in terms of the kinetics of defect formation and motion in the strained Si barriers.

The mechanical behavior of non-metalized GaAs wafer material at different temperatures were evaluated. The material properties of GaAs, including the modulus of elasticity, the modulus of rupture, the critical value of stress intensity factor, and the coefficient of thermal expansion, were experimentally determined over various temperature ranges.

Plastic slip deformation in patterned.GaAs films on Si substrate during cooling from film deposition temperature are numerically simulated under a continuum mechanics approximation. The plastic slip is assumed to take place on (111) <110> slip systems and activation condition of the slip systems is given by the Schmid's law. The critical resolved shear stresses for the activation of slip systems are expressed as a function of accumulated dislocation densities, which are evaluated by models for their movement and interaction. A three dimensional finite element computer program is developed, in which strain hardening behaviour is given a quantitative expression by the models for dislocations. Results of the simulation reveal process of plastic slip and dislocation accumulation in GaAs film. Residual stress evaluated by the simulation agreed well with results obtained by photo-luminescent experiments.

Silicon carbide whisker reinforced aluminum with improved temperature resistance, increased tensile strength and decreased coefficient of thermal expansion was obtained by using a phosphate binder instead of a commonly used silica binder for preparing the SiC whisker preform, to which liquid aluminum was infiltrated in order to form the composite. The composite is attractive for applications as a heat sink with a low coefficient of thermal expansion.

A four point bending experiment was conducted to study the effect of stress on the electrical activation of implanted 29Si in GaAs. The stress distribution in the SiNx-coated GaAs was quantitatively examined. 29Si electrical activation was found to depend strongly on the magnitude of the stress when specimens were annealed under tensile stress; compressive stress had a negligible effect. The n-type GaAs was converted into p-type under excess tensile stress. This stress dependence of electrical activation is attributed to the differences in dislocation characteristics and its interaction with implanted Si under tensile or compressive bending.

An ac-microindentation technique, namely indenting with a small displacement modulation superimposed on an otherwise linear indenter motion, will be introduced. The basic principle and theory will also be illustrated by using a mechanical model to simulate the indenter behavior.

Other than being as capable as conventional indentation, the ac-technique acquires the unloading slope simultaneously and continuously with the penetration depth and applied load during an entire indentation process. With this extra information, the conversion between the total depth and plastic depth can be executed right after a single indentation, and in turn the hardness as well as. contact modulus depth profiles can be calculated. This is in contrast to the conventional indentation technique where a group of indentations associated with different maximum loads are required in order to achieve the same purpose. Furthermore, it also avoids the subjectivity in the selection of the fitting portions from the unloading stage of an indentation curve to extract the unloading slopes as well as the plastic penetration depths.

Another important advantage of using this ac-technique is the high sensitivity in detecting the indenter/surface contact. This advantage is very useful in the determination of the origins of penetration depths as well as in the investigation the evolution of the contact area, and both issues are very crucial in the microhardness calculations.

The strain rate effect on the hardness measurements of a 1 μm thick Al-2%Si coating has been demonstrated by using the ac-technique. As the indenter loading speed increases from 2.5 to 10 nm/sec, the measured hardness of the coating can be increased from ∼20% to ∼80% depending on the penetration depth, and the shallower the penetration depth the larger the increment is. However, the contact modulus depth profiles remain unchanged for all the indentation rates.